


And Now

by ThoseDaysThatWill



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, Winnipeg Jets, some angst mostly fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-06 20:03:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18395405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThoseDaysThatWill/pseuds/ThoseDaysThatWill
Summary: Ben was not the jealous type. He would have said that without exception any time he had been asked... He also would have said that he wasn’t the settle down type at all... And now...





	And Now

**Author's Note:**

> Ju inspired this with a comment left on another fic. 
> 
> All teams, people, and hockey-related facts are true.

Ben was not the jealous type. He would have said that without exception any time he had been asked. He was glad for his teammates’ success. He was happy that they were happy with each other. He didn’t want any of them in any permanent sense. In fact, he also would have said that he wasn’t the settle down type at all. He liked playing the field, both on his team and cross-team. Seduction was an art and he was good at it. No reason to put that away for just one person. And furthermore, if he _was_ going to settle down, it would have been with a Canadian. He had a type, and there was an endless supply of it in the NHL.

And now he found himself sitting on his own couch, with his boyfriend— _his Finnish boyfriend_ stretched across it, his head in his lap. He couldn’t put a date, a moment on when that word was actually true, when he had decided that he didn’t want to take anyone else home. It sort of snuck up on him. Night after night, then it just became what they did. And so, there he was with one hand tangled in Sami’s hair, and the other resting on Bailey who had curled up directly on top of Sami. She seemed to like that spot as much as Sami did. They found themselves like that often, watching TV or talking. This was their post-team-event time, and he was perfectly comfortable with it.

On this particular day, he also found himself listening intently to the conversation Sami was having on the phone. Ben had muted the TV when his phone rang, because Sami said it would be quick. He couldn’t catch the name that came up before Sami pressed the phone to his ear. He didn’t move from where he was, but the very clipped and rapid Finnish he spoke was privacy enough. Ben tried to pick out words that he knew, but he couldn’t string them together enough to form any kind of sentence that gave him a clue to the conversation.

After a while of that, Sami began to shift, moving Bailey so he could sit up. She gave him a disappointed huff but climbed down to the end of the couch to make sure she wouldn’t fall off the couch. She held her head up long enough to give Sami a mournful look that he completely missed. Once she realized she wasn’t going to get any sympathy for the inconvenience, nor had she been invited to follow them upstairs since Ben wasn’t moving, she put her head down and huffed again. Ben could sympathize.

“Hetkinen,” Sami said into the phone before pulling it away from his ear. He leaned over to kiss Ben very briefly, “I am going to go finish my call, but I will come back. Okay?”

Ben nodded, “I’ll be here.” It was not a big deal, he told himself, if Sami wanted to talk in private, despite the fact that Ben couldn’t understand 98% of what he was saying. He could read tone, of course, and it had sounded like a friendly call. Sure, Sami had laughed more than a few times, but that wasn’t unusual. Patrik made him laugh too, and there wasn’t anything _there_ to make him uneasy. This was just the same thing, he reminded himself. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t even told him who he was talking to, it wasn’t like he’d know the guy anyway.

He put his focus on the TV, starting the episode over again because he’d missed most of it. And he needed to not think about it. But the more Ben _didn’t_ think about it, the more he came to the conclusion that the only reason Sami would need to get up and talk in private was if his tone was about to change. And what change of tone would he have that he wouldn’t want Ben to hear? He physically shook his head, trying to clear those thoughts etch-a-sketch style. This was _ridiculous_. There was nothing to worry about. If he could be sure of anything, it was that. Sami just wasn’t the type.

Though, the devil on his other shoulder reminded him, what did he know about ‘types’ and Finns? Not nearly enough, was the truth. If Joel had still been around, he might have asked him about it. They’d never had many Finns around; in fact, he couldn’t think of any other ones besides Sami and Patrik. And no one with any sense would ask Patrik for advice on anything. Ben didn’t even ask him for Finnish translations because he didn’t believe his answers. Come to think of it, all the teams he’d ever played on were really Canadian-heavy. This year, they were leaning a little American, but not too much. None of that helped him when trying to understand Finns— _his_ Finn in particular.

By the time Sami came back into the living room, Ben had almost dozed off. The show was still playing, about to head into the next episode, and again he had missed all of it. He blinked his eyes open when he felt Sami sit beside him. If he wanted to be annoyed or even angry about anything, that took a backseat to the smile caused by Sami curling into his side and resting his head on his shoulder.

“Sorry that take so long, but Veini just talks and talks.” Sami shook his head, “I should know better to not answer him when he has playoffs. He get nervous and he just… talk, talk, talk.” The longer Sami spoke Finnish, the thicker his accent was immediately after returning to English. It would fade the more English he spoke, to the point that it was almost imperceptible, but Ben found himself enjoying it while it lasted. It always reminded him of how he sounded just after waking up.

Ben didn’t think he recognized the name, but in the rush of Finglish, he couldn’t be sure, “Who does he play for?”

“Kärpät. Back home, they are already in the semifinaaliin. He share the job a little, but he is _much_ better than other guy so…” He waved off whatever would have followed that, but kept talking, “Before, he was not starting in the playoffs, but then he get a new team and now he starts and this is good. He has a good team, they could get it.”

“Starting? He’s a goalie?”

Sami quirked his head a little, “Yeah, I tell you about Veini already.”

Ben shook his head, “No, you didn’t.” He would have remembered, he didn’t say.

“Oh, I mean to.” Sami shrugged, “He was my goalie when I played in Jyväskylä. I know him for a long time, we play together for JYP all through growing up. There was a group of us, you know, and we play together for a lot of years, but mostly not anymore. I come here to Canada. Uh, Julius, he is in Dallas. But most of them stay in Suomi. Like Veini, he go to another Liiga team.”

Ben just looked at him for a moment. There had only been one actual Finnish word in there (which he was used to because Sami refused to use the English word for Finland), but his accent seemed to actually be getting thicker rather than fading as it usually did. Maybe because he was talking about home, maybe something else. Of course, Ben could understand all of it, he wasn’t _that_ far from his English, but it did stand out to his ear. There was something else that stood out, too.

“ _Your_ goalie?” He asked.

Sami looked confused for a moment, as if he hadn’t understood the words. “He is the goalie… from my team.”

“Uh huh. You hear me calling Connor _mine_?”

Sami pulled back a little, so he could see Ben’s face, “You are… _jealous_?” Even at his best, j’s were tricky, but with his accent already in full force, it came out completely as a y.

Ben rolled his eyes, “Why would I be? You just needed to go in private to have a conversation with _your_ goalie. Can’t imagine why I would think _anything_ about that.” His tone surprised even himself, but he didn’t stop it from all coming out. Once he started on something, his brain tended to commit to it, even if that was a bad idea. Sarcasm was always a bad idea, but especially with Sami.

Sami’s eyes went wide, “You are!” A smile slowly spread across his lips, “You have _nothing_ to be jealous of. He is…” He waved that off, though Ben would have very much liked to hear the end of that sentence. “And you are… _you_.”

“What does _that_ mean?”

Sami moved over to straddle his lap, folding his legs on either side, “It means nobody is you. I went to talk in private because I was talking _about_ you! He asked me how things were with us and… I didn’t want you to hear how many times I was going to say your name.”

Ben laughed, “Yeah? How many times?”

“ _Too many_ , he says. He says I talk about you and I don’t shut up.” Sami blushed but grinned anyway.

Ben scoffed, “Probably because _he’s_ jealous. Did he want you when you were on the same team?”

“I didn’t care who wanted me back on that team. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t want them. I just said I was focused on hockey. But I know now.” He bit his lip, but took in a deep breath and continued on, “I think I was _waiting_ for you. Just you.”

It was Ben’s turn to go wide-eyed, “ _That’s_ one hell of a statement.” He slid his hands under Sami’s t-shirt, just to rest them there, skin-on-skin. The connection was heady, sensual, in a whole new way.

He smiled, “And I mean it. Being with you…” He let his eyes close for a moment, sighing, “It is wonderful. Better than that. Everything I thought it would be.” He leaned in, burying his face in the side of Ben’s neck.

Ben slid his hands over his back, “So, that _was_ your first time?”

Sami nodded, ignoring the flush spreading across his cheeks, “Mmhmm.”

Ben smiled at that. “And now you’re mine.”

It wasn’t a question, but Sami answered anyway, “Mmhmm.”

“Sami… _kulta_ … look at me.”

He pulled back, sitting up to meet his eyes. Ben had never been one to allow any kind of nervous feeling to set up shop, but there was one trying to barge in now. He pushed it away, holding tight to the look into Sami’s eyes instead. He reached up to brush his hair back, tucking it behind his ear. He enjoyed the almost shy smile that earned him. If ever a moment was perfect, it was this one.

Ben voice was soft, “Minä rakastan sinua.”

He’d been practicing the words for about a week, never out loud though. He wasn’t sure if he was going to ever actually say them, but the fact that he’d looked them up at all had told him that he meant them. He’d surprised himself when he heard them come out of his mouth, though. Judging by the expression on his face, Sami was just as surprised.

“You… _do_?”

Ben laughed at that, “Yeah.” There might have been just the slightest hint of self-consciousness in his tone. And he didn’t like it.

“Oh _wow_.”

Ben didn’t say anything, just raised an eyebrow at him. The nervousness from before was starting to build and despite the fact he was consciously trying to push it away, the silence wasn’t helping anything.

“Voi Luoja.” It clearly dawned on Sami that he had been staring just a little bit too long and he shook not only his head but his shoulders as well, hopefully to regain some semblance of sense. “I love you!” His tone couldn’t have been more sincere.

Ben would never admit the amount of relief he felt at hearing the words returned to him, but the smile gave away some of it. He kept his tone light though, “Yeah? I was getting worried.”

Sami scoffed, “Like you had to wonder! I loved you the minute you kissed me in the rink. Maybe before.”

Ben laughed, “You sap.” He slid both hands into Sami’s hair and pulled him into the kind of kiss that proved he was not the only one with that particular affliction.


End file.
